Eastern Entanglement

A symposium at FrontPage Magazine has Jamie Glazov hosting a discussion between John Radzilowski, John Swails and Rachel Ehrenfeld on the subject of Ukraine and World War IV. Dr Radzilowski has some cogent arguments to set against the skepticism of some sections of the American Right concerning Ukraine's "trustworthiness" as an ally in the War on Terror, given the Ukrainian government's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq - thus supposedly currying favour with "Old" Europe. The Orange Revolution has further ramifications, which are not always obvious from a U.S. perspective. In particular, Radzilowski notes:

The notion that Ukraine or its new president-elect are now the darlings of the EU is almost laughable. The EU would have completely ignored this crisis had it not been for the new accession states--Poland and Lithuania in particular. The EU has completely ignored the abuses of the crypto-Stalinist regime in neighboring Belarus for years. The last thing EU bigwigs want is another "eastern entanglement" especially one that will cause any unpleasantness with Russia. The European left is furious with the Poles and Lithuanians for dragging the EU into Ukraine. On January 5, the Spanish Socialist President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, in a closed-door session of the Forum for New Economics in Madrid bitterly denounced the new members as agents of "U.S. influence." This hardly sounds like a love-feast in the making.

The EU faces a huge dilemma with regard to Ukraine. It can hardly bar Ukraine from any consideration of future membership while offering Turkey a path to full membership. Yet the inclusion of a huge country of 48 million would alter the EU almost beyond recognition and hugely complicate relations with Russia. There is serious concern about the present set of new members--whether they can be fully integrated, whether they are too pro-American or too free-market oriented. The prospect of Ukraine as a potential member will be rather terrifying to the Eurocrats and the French leadership.